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NOVEMBEB 30, 1911. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



19 





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i THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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TIMELY ADVEETISING. 



Retail florists frequently can take ad- 

 vantage of local events by means of 

 timely advertising. For instance, when 

 the grand opera season opened at Chi- 

 cago the other day a florist who keeps 

 up to the times had a good space on the 

 theatrical page for the following: 



To HoMers of Seats for 

 Grand Opei'a 



at the 



Auditorium 



wc wish to call your attention 



to the special opera corsages on sale at 



Popular Prices 



at B'lflschman's, In the Railway Exchange Bldg 



Corner Jackson and Michigan Blvds. 



Telephone Harrison 3342 



FUNERAL WORK. 



The accompanying illustration shows 

 the designs turned out one day re- 

 cently by G. Fred Bauerle, proprietor 

 of the North Side Greenhouse and Gar- 

 den, Lansing, Mich. The run of work 

 was more than ordinarily heavy, be- 

 cause it was a double funeral and at- 

 tracted much public attention. 



'THROWINa IN THE ART." 



Policy in Prices. 



In The Review of October 19 there 

 appeared an interesting article entitled 

 "The Evolution of Retailing," in 

 which the statements are made that the 

 progressive policy of the merchant of 

 today leaves the artist of yesterday in 



the rear — a standpatter, as it were, 

 who, if he would gain trade, must 

 "throw in the art"; that this progres- 

 sive policy appears to be one of price 

 cutting, liberal use of the advertising 

 columns of the leading paper, of daily 

 readjustment of prices according to the 

 supply; that the spirit of enterprise 

 seeks volume of trade along the line 

 of department store methods, in order 

 to work oft' the surplus of stock which 

 faces the wholesaler ten months of the 

 year. [The article did not say quite 

 that; it merely called attention to the 

 experiments some retailers are making 

 along those lines. — Ed.] With part of 

 the foregoing most of ue can agree, but 

 if this business of price cutting is fol- 

 lowed out, where shall we land? 

 Overstocks and Price Cutting. 



While the condition of being con- 

 fronted continually with a surplus may 

 be true of some few large trade centers, 

 it is not generally the condition of the 

 country at large. While department 

 store methods seem to be the only re- 

 lief in some cases of overstock, and 

 while the supply must govern the price 

 to a certain extent, it can not be an in- 

 dication of the best trade conditions, 

 as a steady diet. At the same time, the 

 opposite practice of too much stifl'ness 

 in price is a step back from progress. 

 Whore the price cutting methods of 

 obtaining and holding trade prevail, 

 there must be something radically 

 wrong with trade in that vicinity. If 



growers can keep their heads above 

 water on their share of the carnation 

 profits when that article retails at 25 

 cents per dozen, we are from Missouri. 

 Yes, we must admit that at that rate 

 the art must be thrown in. But, even 

 admitting that much, a great deal is 

 implied, namely, that we must have the 

 art. 



The Main Object. 



As to merchandising being the main 

 object — why, bless you, why have we 

 been operating these stores, and why 

 have we employed all the fixings and' 

 artifices to help trade? Certainly not 

 altogether for health or pleasure. If 

 we go to following department store 

 methods, it will not be long before we 

 shall have to occupy half a block of 

 rest rooms, libraries, check rooms and 

 information bureaus to .sell a dozen car- 

 nations at 23 cents. Where will this 

 lead us? And on top of all this we are 

 enjoined to throw in the art, which, 

 after all, is equally valuable with the 

 flowers themselves. 



The Danger of Degeneracy. 



And yet, after all is said and done, 

 how much is there which affects the 

 style of art in the selling of Beauties 

 at $1.50 and carnations at 29 cents over 

 the counter? If it should come to 

 using hundreds and thousands of these 

 same flowers at the same rate in deco- 

 rations, we must charge for the art. 

 In funeral work of any importance at 

 all, throwing in the art comes to be 

 a condition of no art at all. The 

 thought, the pleasing power of a de- 

 sign, will count where it is talked up by 

 the salesman. Of course, you can not 

 expect customers to discover it them- 

 selves. You must point out and ex- 

 plain. Lay a dozen roses together ar- 

 tistically and another dozen of the same 

 kind together indifferently, and demon- 

 strate the difference. The customer can 

 see and learn, and pay the difference, 

 too, after a few demonstrations of this 

 kind. It follows that where all the 



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Work for a Double Funeral, by G. Fred Bauerle, Lansing, Mich. 



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